Enhanced Performance of an All-Vanadium Redox Flow Battery Employing Graphene Modified Carbon Paper Electrodes

Authors: Barun Chakrabarti, Dan Nir, Vladimir Yufit, P. V. Aravind, Nigel Brandon

Abstract:

Fuel cell grade gas-diffusion layer carbon paper (CP) electrodes are subjected to electrophoresis in N,N’-dimethylformamide (DMF) consisting of reduced graphene oxide (rGO). The rGO modified electrodes are compared with CP in a single asymmetric all-vanadium redox battery system (employing a double serpentine flow channel for each half-cell). Peak power densities improved by 4% when the rGO deposits were facing the ion-exchange membrane (cell performance was poorer when the rGO was facing the flow field). Cycling of the cells showed least degradation of the CP electrodes that were coated with rGO in comparison to pristine samples.

Keywords: All-vanadium redox flow batteries, carbon paper electrodes, electrophoretic deposition, reduced graphene oxide.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI): doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1131954

References:

[1] V. Yufit, B. Hale, M. Matian, P. Mazur, and N. P. Brandon, “Development of a regenerative hydrogen-vanadium fuel cell for energy storage applications,” J. Electrochem. Soc., vol. 160, no. 6, pp. A856-A861, March 2013.
[2] C. L. Chen, H. K. Yeoh, and M. H. Chakrabarti, “One Dimensional Mathematical Modelling of the All-Vanadium and Vanadium/Oxygen Redox Flow Batteries,” ECS Trans., vol. 66, no. 10, pp. 1-23, 2015.
[3] M. H. Chakrabarti, N. P. Brandon, S. A. Hajimolana, F. Tariq, V. Yufit, M. A. Hashim, M. A. Hussain, C. T. J. Low, and P. V. Aravind, “Application of carbon materials in redox flow batteries,” J. Power Sources, vol. 253, pp. 150-166, May 2014.
[4] D. Aaron, Z. Tang, A. B. Papandrew, and T. A. Zawodzinski, “Polarization curve analysis of all-vanadium redox flow batteries,” J. Appl. Electrochem., vol. 41, pp. 1175–1182, Oct. 2011.
[5] D. S. Aaron, Q. Liu, Z. Tang, G. M. Grim, A. B. Papandrew, A. Turhan, T. A. Zawodzinski, and M. M. Mench, “Dramatic performance gains in vanadium redox flow batteries through modified cell architecture,” J. Power Sources, vol. 206, pp. 450–453, May 2012.
[6] Q. Zheng, F. Xing, X. Li, T. Liu, Q. Lai, G. Ning, and H. Zhang, “Investigation on the performance evaluation method of flow batteries,” J. Power Sources, vol. 266, pp. 145–149, Nov. 2014.
[7] Q. H. Liu, G. M. Grim, A. B. Papandrew, A. Turhan, T. A. Zawodzinski, and M. M. Mench,” High Performance Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries with Optimized Electrode Configuration and Membrane Selection,” J. Electrochem. Soc., vol. 159, no. 8, pp. A1246–A1252, July 2012.
[8] M. P. Manahan, Q. H. Liu, M. L. Gross, and M. M. Mench, “Carbon nanoporous layer for reaction location management and performance enhancement in all-vanadium redox flow batteries,” J. Power Sources, vol. 222, pp. 498-502, Jan. 2013.
[9] P. Han, Y. Yue, Z. Liu, W. Xu, L. Zhang, H. Xu, S. Dong, and G. Cui, “Graphene oxide nanosheets/multi-walled carbon nanotubes hybrid as an excellent electrocatalytic material towards VO2+/VO2+ redox couples for vanadium redox flow batteries,” Energy Environ. Sci., vol. 4, no. 11, pp. 4710–4717, 2011.
[10] M. H. Chakrabarti, C. T. J. Low, N. P. Brandon, V. Yufit, M. A. Hashim, M. F. Irfan, J. Akhtar, E. Ruiz-Trejo, and M. A. Hussain, “Progress in the electrochemical modification of graphene-based materials and their applications,” Electrochim. Acta, vol. 107, pp. 425-440, Sept. 2013.
[11] B. Chakrabarti, D. Nir, V. Yufit, F. Tariq, J. Rubio-Garcia, R. Maher, A. Kucernak, P. V. Aravind, and N. Brandon, “Performance Enhancement of Reduced Graphene Oxide-Modified Carbon Electrodes for Vanadium Redox-Flow Systems,” ChemElectroChem, vol. 4, pp. 194-200, 2017.
[12] Q. Xu, T. S. Zhao, and C. Zhang, “Performance of a vanadium redox flow battery with and without flow fields,” Electrochim. Acta, vol. 142, pp. 61-67, Oct. 2014.
[13] W. Chartarrayawadee, S. E. Moulton, D. Li, C. O. Too, and G. G. Wallace, “Novel composite graphene/platinum electro-catalytic electrodes prepared by electrophoretic deposition from colloidal solutions,” Electrochim. Acta, vol. 60, pp. 213-223, Jan. 2012.
[14] A. Di Blasi, N. Briguglio, O. Di Blasi, and V. Antonucci, “Charge–discharge performance of carbon fiber-based electrodes in single cell and short stack for vanadium redox flow battery,” Appl. Energy, vol. 125, pp. 114-122, July 2014.
[15] A. Chavez-Valdez, M. S. P. Shaffer, and A. R. Boccaccini, “Applications of Graphene Electrophoretic Deposition. A Review,” J. Phys. Chem. B, vol. 117, no. 6, pp. 1502-1515, 2013.